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LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) - New WTA Tour chairman Stacey
Allaster defended the controversial women's rankings system
following her appointment on Monday.

Russian Dinara Safina has risen to world number one despite
not winning a grand slam title and American Serena Williams
criticised the rankings after claiming her 11th major crown at
Wimbledon this month.

"It's a 52-week ruling average and it's a combination of the
grand slams and tour events. Without question, based on the
ranking system, with consistent performance at the slams and at
the tours, Dinara Safina is the number one player," Allaster
told Reuters.

World number two Williams said she "didn't even care
anymore" about the rankings.

"I think this ranking debate is not new, it has gone on for
several years," Allaster said.

"Every fan has their own (ranking) measure, what we know is
that we have a system... (Safina) has had a great season and she
will win a grand slam I have no doubt in my mind."

The former WTA president has identified the digital
expansion of tennis as a key goal.

"We just re-launched our new website, our China version will
follow in the next six to eight weeks, by year-end we'll have
our Spanish website up and running, so as an organisation we
have been investing in digital and I see it as a strategic
priority going forward," she said.

The 46-year-old said she was also supremely confident about
the strength of women's tennis.

"We have great depth, we have Venus and Serena, who are
still playing and dominating extremely well at this stage in
their careers," she said.

"We've got Maria Sharapova, a champion who is on her way
back, and we've got Elena Dementieva and some young new bright
stars coming. The depth is there."

(Editing by Ed Osmond; to query or comment on this story
email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)